Ch. 4

This dummy was different as its build was stockier than the dummies I had faced until now. Additionally, the dummy possessed a shade of red compared to the typical, yellowish-brown color of the previous dummies. I assumed that this version of the dummy was bound to be faster, tougher, and stronger than the previous dummies. The dummy quickly proved my hypothesis correct when it approached me much faster than the earlier dummies.

Fortunately, the dummy's improved speed was still within my comfort zone. I successfully dodged the dummy's attack and used my thermo-vision to detect where its core was. Using my thermo-vision, I discovered this stronger dummy's core was located in its left thigh.

Armed with this critical information, I formulated a method to take down this stronger dummy with the least effort quickly. I proceeded to back away from the dummy and waited for it to attack me again.

Immediately after dodging its first attack, the dummy quickly shifted towards me and swung at me again. However, this time, I opted to crouch down to avoid its punch. I put myself in an optimal position to attack its weak spot by crouching down. I then put more oomph in my punch as I punched the dummy's left thigh, where its core was located.

My strong punch to its core immediately knocked it out as I had expected. Soon afterward, the cleaning dummies came out and took the dummy away.

----

Meanwhile, outside of my venue, my speedy and effective takedown of the stronger dummy or dummy two as it is officially named garnered the attention of a few people. Earlier on, my display of insta-killing the weaker dummies or dummy ones as they are called wasn't anything too special as there were already plenty of other contestants who did the same. However, although there were already a couple of contestants who also took out dummy two in a single blow, none had done it as effortlessly as I did. For this reason, more and more people started to pay attention to my broadcast.

In the control center for the event, the manager was currently talking with Alex, who was responsible for examining all the fights to make sure no one was cheating. Alex was employed for this role because he had a quirk that allowed them to see things the naked eye may quickly gloss over, which proved effective in detecting cheaters.

"Was that kid (Patton) cheating, Alex?" The manager asked Alex.

"I don't think so. I didn't see anything that would make me suspicious of him cheating," Alex answered.

"Then how did he take down dummy two so easily?"

"I would like to know the answer to that as well."

"Let me call technical staff here. See if they have an answer," the manager said as he radioed, asking the technical manager to come to the control center.

"What do you need my help for?" The technical manager asked upon entering the control center.

"Here. Take a look at this clip," the manager proceeded to show the clip of me defeating dummy two in a single blow.

After viewing the clip, the technical manager scrunched his eyebrows and asked, "Could you bring up this kid's fight with the dummy ones, please?"

The manager gestured towards Alex, who proceeded to bring up my fights with the dummy ones.

After watching me effortlessly take down all the dummies, the technical manager said, "interesting."

"Have you discovered how he took that dummy two so easily?" The manager asked.

"Yes. I knew immediately after seeing the first clip you showed. I asked to see this kid's earlier fights to confirm a speculation I had."

"What was your speculation?"

"This kid seems to know where the cores of all the dummies are so far. I initially assumed that him hitting the core of dummy two was just a stroke of luck. However, seeing his previous fights and how he only attacked the dummies' cores, it wasn't luck."

"Did the information of the dummies' weak spots potentially get leaked?" The manager asked.

"That's impossible. The cores of all the dummies are assigned at random," the technical manager replied calmly.

"Then how is he doing it?"

"Alex, could you bring up this kid's profile?" The technical manager asked.

"No problem," Alex answered as he entered a few numbers into the computer, which brought up my profile on the computer screens.

"Let's see. Patton X. Washington. Age, 14. Quirk, thermo-vision. Ah, bingo. This kid lucked out. His perk is perfectly suited for this event," the technical manager said.

"Oh, so there is no cheating going on, correct?" The manager asked.

"Yep, no cheating." The technical manager answered.

"Great. Case resolved. you may head back to your post now."

----

Back in my venue, while the events in the control center were still unfolding, I had already beaten another two waves. I was now facing off against five of the stronger dummies at once. I hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Though, I was starting to feel worried. They won't just keep sending larger and larger amounts of dummies with each following wave, right? I might be able to beat them easily. However, power in numbers is a real thing. If, after this wave, ten of these dummies walk out, there's no way I'm going to come out on top. Even while distracted by this thought, I easily knocked out all of the dummies in the current wave, which garnered more attention from outside unbeknownst to me.

The side doors opened, and the cleaner dummies came out again to take away the beaten dummies. I utilized this brief moment of peace to stabilize my mentality. Even as an amateur fighter, I knew that being distracted in a fight was the biggest mistake one could make. I waited in anxiety as the gate on the far end of the venue opened up.

Fortunately, only two dummies walked out before the gate closed. Although, I was happy that I didn't have to face a swarm of dummies. I was also worried as these two dummies were a new iteration of dummies. They were colored red, and their movements were much more fluid. I quickly turned on my thermo-vision to look for their weak spots.

Upon turning on my thermo-vision, I discovered that these dummies had two cores rather than the typical one. Immediately after discovering this piece of critical information, I knew that it would be an uphill battle starting from here. I braced myself for what was about to come.

At this point, so far, around forty percent of the contestants had made it this far. However, that number is going to nosedive here.

The two dummies started to approach me slowly, with each of them walking towards me from both sides in a semi-circle-like fashion. Damn. It seems like these two dummies will also actively work together to defeat me. A combat skill the previous dummies did not show.

I must end this as soon as possible. If this battle drags out, I will have to expend a lot of energy, which would hurt my progress in the long run. With this in mind, I took the initiative and rushed towards the dummy on my right.

Seeing me run towards itself, the dummy used its two arms to protect its body, just so happening to cover both its weak points in the process. A coincidence? I wasn't so sure. I found myself face to face against the dummy and proceeded to punch as hard as I could in an attempt to break its guard. I needed to move its arms out of the way to reveal one of its weaknesses located near its neck.

Unfortunately, my punch could not break the dummy's guard, and I found myself pinched between the two dummies. The other dummy was rapidly moving behind me, and the dummy in front of me focused purely on defense. I would be lying if I were to say I wasn't in a bit of a predicament right now.

My current positioning was putting me in danger. I knew that I needed to find a way to single out the dummies. It's too much for me to take both of them on at the same time. I once again focused on the dummy in front of me. It still had its guard up firmly. I decided to try something different this time. I opted to disrupt the dummy's balance.

Although the dummy's chest was being covered, the same couldn't be said about its legs. I quickly lifted my leg and kicked the dummy's knee from the side. My blow to the dummy's knee proved successful in disrupting its balance as the dummy fell to the ground. Determined to make the most out of this opportunity, I tackled the dummy and quickly got on top of it. I immediately started pounding down on where its cores were.

Just then, bam! I was knocked off the dummy by the other dummy. It had charged at me and crashed into my side. Although it hurt quite a bit, I smiled while getting up from the ground. Before being hit by the dummy, I successfully broke the other dummy's two cores in that brief moment. Now it was one-on-one, and I had overcome the biggest obstacle.

I got into a traditional boxing stance and slowly started approaching the dummy. The dummy also got into a stance of some sort and started making its way towards me. Once we were in arms-reach of each other, the fight began. I jabbed towards the dummy's face, successfully making contact. I followed my initial jab with a right hook, hitting where the dummy's gut would be. Immediately after my hook, I quickstepped backward, narrowly dodging a punch by the dummy. It then kicked at me with its front leg. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid the blow; however, I was lucky that there wasn't much force behind it.

I proceeded to close the distance between the two of us, ensuring that there would not be enough room for the dummy to kick again. It was here that I was able to display my mastery of boxing. For every swing that the dummy took at me, I returned five to its head. Eventually, I got a combo going and ended it with an uppercut to the dummy's chin, causing its head to pop off, marking my victory.

I sat down on the ground, panting a little. That fight, especially that last bought between me and the dummy, caused me to feel a little bit exhausted. I didn't feel like I could take on many more waves.

I slowly caught my breath as I watched the cleanup dummies take away the downed dummies. After the dummies were done cleaning the venue, I got up and prepared for what was about to come next.